Not too long ago, EvilG stopped by my house for a visit. With him he had brought a handful of CD’s that had been submitted to Metal-Rules.com for review but never had time to do himself. Luckily for me, EvilG never listened the discs before passing them on to me or else I don’t think I’d have managed to get this one away from him. Oh well... Too bad for you, G. ;-)

Jester’s Funeral was formed in early 1996 by vocalist/guitarist Stefan Schmidt, guitarist Heiko Hohn, bassist Holger Wies, and drummer Bastian Emig. The band (who only averaged 18 years of age at the time) recorded their first demo after only six weeks together. A second demo was recorded approximately five months later, shortly after which fifth member Nic Kobold (keyboards/guitar) joined the fold. Then in 1998, Labyrinth, Jester’s Funeral’s debut was released by Black Arrow/Point Music. Which brings us now to the band’s latest offering, Quicksilverlight...

Despite the obvious Metallica influence (Don’t worry, no Load / Reload crap...), I was very impressed by this young German band. Imagine if you will, that all four members of Metallica were born and raised in Europe (not just the Danish midget), that they hired a tasteful keyboard player, and that they cared more about making good quality music than being rock stars. Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? The opening track, "Jester’s Empire", a slightly up-tempo tune with some well placed double kicks, did a fine job of grabbing my attention and track two, "Traveler", had me hooked for the rest of the disc. Other gems in this young band’s crown include "Time Bomb", "Quicksilverlight", "Eternal is the End", and "Where Deep Waters Flow". Actually, I only found one song to be weak, and that was "Brontosaurus 666". It was too slow and plodding for my personal tastes. (Strange title as well...)

So if you’re a fan of bands like Metallica (the old/good stuff) and (Morgana) Lefay with a slightly more progressive touch and plenty of European flair, then visit the Jester’s Funeral website at http://www.jestersfuneral.de for more information and soundclips. A very promising young band that are definitely worth checking out.